Three times a day, she took her antibiotics,
chugged liters of water, and did some light
exercise.
Her stretched ears were looking great.
<
And watching her switch out different sized
plugs, a strange mix of dread and excitement
bubbled up inside me.
Just two weeks in, her ears were already
stretched to 25mm.
And her earlobes looked so fragile, like they
could just rip off at the slightest touch.
After this last size swap, she wiped away a
tear.
“I’m not coming home tonight, can you cover
for me with Mom and Dad?”
I nodded, “You got it, sis, I’ll take care of it.”
Looking at her ear, almost deformed, a shiver
went down my spine.
く
02
My sister came home the next day around
noon, looking absolutely drained.
Her ears were swollen and red.
When she saw me staring at her ears, she
lost it, yelling, “What are you looking at?
Never seen ears before?”
Before I could even respond, she slammed
her bedroom door shut.
Earlier, when I’d looked at her ears, her plugs
were gone.
And strangely, the holes looked bigger than
the day before.
She didn’t come out for lunch.
It wasn’t until my parents were getting ready
for bed that they noticed something was
wrong.
“Lily, your sister hasn’t come out since she
got back.”
I chimed in, sounding worried, “Yeah, she
hasn’t even used the bathroom…”
Hearing that, my parents went pale, and they
started banging on her door.
After what felt like an eternity, my sister
answered weakly, “Mom, Dad, I feel awful.”
My parents, already panicked, couldn’t take it
anymore.
L
My dad actually grabbed an axe and started
smashing the door in.
The moment the lock broke, my mom rushed
in, me right behind her.
My sister was in bed, her face flushed, her
lips pale.
Seeing us, she opened her eyes halfway, and
mumbled in pain, “Mom, I hurt all over.”
My dad was terrified. He scooped her up and
rushed her to the hospital.
That’s when they finally noticed her stretched
ears.
Since getting her ears gauged, she’d been doing a great job hiding it, avoiding meals.
<
with my parents.
Whenever my parents were home, she’d hide
in her room.
Every time my parents tried to talk to her,
she’d use the excuse that she was studying
for the Civil Service exam.
What parent would disturb their kid during a
time like that, right?
My parents were no different.
I saw my dad carrying my sister on his back.
Her ear was almost touching his shoulder.
In that moment, my mom’s eyes turned red
with rage.
<
My dad saw it too, and barely containing his
anger, he said, “Let’s just get her to the
hospital first.”
It wasn’t very busy at the hospital that late.
After hooking my sister up to an IV drip, the
doctor called my parents outside.
“This is an infection caused by excessive ear
stretching. I saw the young lady’s ears were
inflamed.”
“Looks like she forced the expansion with
something.”
“It caused a fever from the infection. She will
be fine after it goes down, just make sure she
drinks a lot of water and avoids reinfection.”
く
Hearing the doctor’s words, my dad’s fists
clenched.
Unlike other parents, my dad was really old-
fashioned.
He didn’t let my sister or me wear skirts to
school, or wear makeup.
“You should focus on studying. Who are you
trying to impress, all decked out like that?”
I remember when my sister secretly got her
ears pierced back in high school.
My dad beat her with a broom, until it broke
into pieces. He didn’t even calm down after
that.
My mom listened to my dad, like he was
く
After the doctor left, my dad kicked the door
wide open.
My sister, who was half asleep, was startled
awake.
My dad raised his hand and slapped her
across the face without saying a word.
“Look at yourself. Do you look like you’re al
normal human being?”
“Dressed up all crazy! You’ve brought so
much shame to our family!”
Before she could even cover her face, he
slapped her again.
“Are you trying to kill me?”
<
Just as my dad was about to hit her again,
my mom grabbed his arm.
Her eyes were red, “Are you trying to kill your
own kid?”
“She’s this sick right now, can’t we just
discuss this at home?”
I hurried over and stood in front of my dad,
begging for my sister.
“Dad, please just forgive her.”
“She’s probably just under a lot of stress
studying.”
After a lot of convincing, my dad calmed
down a bit.
I went to my sister carefully, “Sis, don’t worry,
Dad’s not angry anymore.”
03
She looked at me like I was an idiot, “Dad has
always favored me, of course he’s not angry.
at me.”
Even though her face was swollen, she still
managed to keep a tough persona.
I quickly changed my tone, “That’s so true,
sis.”
33
She wasn’t wrong, my parents favored my
sister, always.
That’s why last time when she suffocated me
with a pillow the first thing she did was run
く
to my parents.
My mom was crying like crazy, and my dad
was so angry he had turned pale.
Then, they both just sighed, “What’s done is
done.”
